Visit to Setcases

Setcases is a small town/village at the bottom of the valley that leads up to the Valter2000 ski-resort. We like to get at least one trip a year towards the Pyrenees, but it can mean a lot of driving - the actual distance to Setcases is about 120km or about 2 hours drive. But the local snow midweek combined with a need to go to Banyoles for some sports activities gave us the impetus to head towards the mountains to get some proper snow.

For skiers, the Costa Brava is relatively close to the mountains and it is feasible to have a day-trip skiing if you're not too worried about longer car journeys. Valter2000 is the closest ski area - resort would be too grand since it is more of a set of lifts and a cafe, with the main inhabited area down at Setcases - a small village a few kilometres on from Campodron.

The second closest would be Val de Nuria where you have to catch a train from Ribes de Freser up the mountain to the base station for skiing. Further on still are the Spanish ski resorts of Masella and La Molina, close to Puigcerda. Or you head into the high mountains of Andorra, or across the border into France.

Driving, the roads are relatively easy with dual carriageway all the way to Olot. The exception is the N260 link from Ribes de Freser to La Molina which is very windy and makes travel difficult to the bigger ski-towns near Puigcerda - these are generally easier from Barcelona northwards through the Tunel de Cadi.

Setcases, which translates as seven houses, is in fact bigger than it's name would suggest. The village is along the upper Ter valley from the larger town of Campodron. Campodron is worth visiting for it's museum of the Spanish Civil War and the stories and artifacts from Allied airmen who crashed and crossed the Pyrenees.

Setcases is then the last habitation before the ski-resort some 10km higher up the valley and sits at 1284m or so. The road up to the top of the valley is very bendy and we weren't prepared for full-on winter driving so Setcases was as a high up the valley as we wanted to go. On the drive we had snow flurries from Campodron, but it wasn't unitl just below Setcases that we reached the base of the snowline, though the road itself was clear.

So when we parked in the village, snow was turning everything white and there was sufficient on snow on the ground to make for snowball fights. The village is built in a bluff grey stone and feels like a proper mountain village with slate roofs and thick strong walls to the houses. The main village is built on the side of the hill with narrow lanes and streets connecting the terraces of houses and lots of restaurants and the odd hostal/hotel. There's a lot of walking possible in the area including walks up and over the Pyrenees into France or to the local high peaks (all at about 2200m or higher).

Our tour was more modest as we explored the streets and houses. The town has a number of village craft and produce shops selling local honey for instance. A rushing culvert runs alongside the main street and a small church hunkers down just above the rooftops of the main village. The signs suggested that the area was wealthy in older times, both for the pasture nearby, but also for local silver mines.

The snow though was the main reason for the visit. It's always surprising just how easy it is to get a complete change not just of scenery and landscape, but almost of climate just by travelling a couple of hours from the coast.